I. FIELD
The disclosure of the present patent application relates to storage containers and the like, and particularly to a portable collapsible container that is selectively expandable and collapsible.
2. DESCRIPTION OF THE RELATED ART
Foldable and collapsible containers are relatively old and well known. Such containers are typically in the form of luggage or baggage, allowing a suitcase, briefcase or the like to be expanded to accommodate materials of different sizes to facilitate transport. Such containers typically have accordion-like, collapsible sidewalls positioned between conventional front and rear walls. As such, they are often limited in their versatility, i.e., although expandable and collapsible, they offer only slight variability in overall thickness, and are still limited to their basic functions and what can be carried within.
Although larger scale foldable and collapsible containers are known, such as collapsible truck trailers and shipping containers, the mechanical couplings required to expand and collapse these containers are typically very heavy and complex, often requiring the use of heavy machinery to manipulate the container. It would obviously be desirable to provide the diverse functionality of a collapsible container, but with greater versatility than exists with conventional collapsible luggage, and with far greater ease of use than exists with collapsible shipping containers, truck trailers and the like. Thus, a portable collapsible container solving the aforementioned problems is desired.